Faculty mentor/PI email address
jim010@aol.cm
Is your research Teaching and Learning based?
1
Keywords
Olfaction; Volatile Organic Compounds; Healthcare, Diagnostic Reasoning; Limbic System; Bias; Professional Formation; Sensory Cognition, Disgust reflex
Date of Presentation
5-6-2026 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Background: Olfaction is the most evolutionarily ancient sensory modality and retains privileged neuroanatomical connections to limbic and threat-detection systems. Despite its biological significance, olfactory perception is under-discussed in contemporary medical education and academic literature, particularly in healthcare environments.
Objective: To examine olfaction as a low-bandwidth, high-salience diagnostic signal in medicine; to explore its neurobiological foundations; and to analyze its ethical, social, and professional implications within Emergency Medicine and other clinical settings.
Methods: Narrative synthesis of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, volatile organic compound (VOC) research, and clinical observational practice.
Discussion: Olfactory pathways bypass primary thalamic relay and project directly to limbic structures including the amygdala and insula, regions implicated in salience detection and disgust processing. This wiring evolved to detect contamination, decay, and metabolic disturbance. In clinical settings, olfactory cues may function as early perturbation signals prior to laboratory confirmation. However, likely because these signals are tightly coupled to disgust and social stigma, they are rarely formalized in academic discourse.
Conclusion: Olfaction occupies a paradoxical but biologically advantaged position in clinical cognition. Recognizing its role may enhance early detection, multisensory reasoning, and professional maturity in complex medical systems.
Disciplines
Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity | Medicine and Health Sciences | Physiological Processes
Included in
Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity Commons, Physiological Processes Commons
Olfaction and Clinical Cognition in Medicine: An Under-Theorized Sensory Modality in Healthcare
Background: Olfaction is the most evolutionarily ancient sensory modality and retains privileged neuroanatomical connections to limbic and threat-detection systems. Despite its biological significance, olfactory perception is under-discussed in contemporary medical education and academic literature, particularly in healthcare environments.
Objective: To examine olfaction as a low-bandwidth, high-salience diagnostic signal in medicine; to explore its neurobiological foundations; and to analyze its ethical, social, and professional implications within Emergency Medicine and other clinical settings.
Methods: Narrative synthesis of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, volatile organic compound (VOC) research, and clinical observational practice.
Discussion: Olfactory pathways bypass primary thalamic relay and project directly to limbic structures including the amygdala and insula, regions implicated in salience detection and disgust processing. This wiring evolved to detect contamination, decay, and metabolic disturbance. In clinical settings, olfactory cues may function as early perturbation signals prior to laboratory confirmation. However, likely because these signals are tightly coupled to disgust and social stigma, they are rarely formalized in academic discourse.
Conclusion: Olfaction occupies a paradoxical but biologically advantaged position in clinical cognition. Recognizing its role may enhance early detection, multisensory reasoning, and professional maturity in complex medical systems.